Here is my letter back to a good friend who has agreed to work with me on a day project in South East Portland.
"You want in on this one? That's sweet it couldn't have happened to a nicer lady!
OK your job is to learn three songs people want to hear and that you can do solo.
Buskers work for the People so the selections should inspire them. You already have great cover songs indeed. I suggest adding some oldies, Elvis, the Ramones, Patsy Cline, Beatles, TV show themes work really well.
If we were in San Antonio we would be playing LaBamba on the Riverwalk all day and getting paid in half pennies half pesos. Sometimes chicken sometimes feathers amigo!
It's up to you of course but we are playing for a lot of marbles...as many as we can pick up in a short time.
MY job is to make people pay you (and introduce them to our Patron).
Olives job is to make people pay me (she hass Vays off makink zem pay hoo hoo haa haa!).
We have the coolest spot at 33rd. We are Sanctioned by the Dollar Scholar so we are the only buskers with electrics, bathroom, a barker, a concession stand that we keep all the money from. and endless prizes to give away from the shop.
"Buskers showcase"" is what I'm calling it. We will develop and evolve this event to do multiple jobs. One job is directing people into the D.S. another being the public interface where we tell passing and asking humans where to go in the Portland nightlife. We give out fliers for our shows, events and our patrons, we tell them what burrito trucks are best and where to buy drinks that contain Tapioca on the bottom.
I have to make sure we get paid to do that.
Whenever I'm on the street and people ask me for "Information" if there isn't any "cutter in the hand" then I am obliged as a clown to send them in all kinds of awful directions.
I decided that if anyone is rude while asking directions I'm sending them to the Rebuilding center in North Portland.
"Oh Madam your looking for the closest toilette? Then you need to take the 4 bus and get off at Fremont and Mississippi they have lots of them".
Other Buskers have nothing to lose and a lot to gain rolling with us. They are never competition but if they suck we have to get them out of there quick. There is a bar next door and we don't want to drive anyone away from the outside seating thats directly to our right.
The rough competition this season will be the bums. They have no overhead (lol) so they can pole better positions than us. Those guys hit the people up hard and put them in a bad mood for handing out money...we have to turn that around!
Just like it behooves them to look feeble and downtrodden, it behooves us to look sharp, large and in charge!
Muddy Waters showed me how bad a bum infestation can Kill the Till and I'm not letting that happen ever again.
I'm looking for payola to bribe the friends we need hula hooping and wearing the giant animal costumes. I bet I could get a gift certificate from the Vintage shop and some of the other shops to pay loopy lackeys.
See if the bums didn't stink so bad THEY could be in the giant chicken suit.
If our friends get something out of the deal they will protect us too, they always do.
I just don't want anyone around OUR plumbs.
How is every weekday at 3 to start the Buskers Showcase?"
Hey buskers! Your music means a lot to you...unfortunately unless you have a harp or some exotic instrument AND you look amazingly attractive (like Pandi http://www.myspace.com/pandibop)it's usually not enough to stop someone who is hussling by with two screaming kids and five shopping bags.
you need to inspire folks with songs they know. Pick your targets well and look like you work there. I don't profess to have all the answers but I have made a lot of mistakes that I plan to profit from. Contact me through the facebook if you want in on this gravytrain.
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